


Red Shift

by obelisque



Category: Naruto
Genre: Accidental Revolutionaries, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Childhood Trauma, Coming of Age, Complicated Friendships, Developing Relationship, F/M, Hero's Journey, Jashinism, Land of Waves Arc, M/M, Team as Family, Uchiha Sasuke-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24720805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obelisque/pseuds/obelisque
Summary: "Sasuke looked unlike himself—splattered in blood, mouth turned down into a gash, and his eyes ablaze with the sharingan. He’d achieved the second tomoe. This revelation was strangely unexciting. There was no one to tell. Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto were probably dead. If he was here, discarded like trash, then there were few alternatives where the others survived. No, he thought. They weren't dead. He just had to find them."-When Team Seven's mission to Wave Country takes a disastrous turn, Sasuke must set aside his personal vendetta against his brother in order to save his teammates, his teacher, and, perhaps, even himself. But first, he has to learn the way of the sword.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura/Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 6
Kudos: 54





	Red Shift

I

Even inside, the air was humid. Sasuke had never seen the ocean before, but found that now he could not escape it. He longed for the warmth of Konoha. Wave Country seemed perpetually set in blue, both land and sky indistinguishable from each other. Each breath was choked with moisture. He hated it. He felt weighed down. There was something unwelcoming about the island, he thought, even beyond the poverty and atmosphere of human despair; something foul that slept beneath the sea, and lurked in the haze of fog that settled over Wave like a shroud. Perhaps it was superstition, but he could feel the potential for destruction here. Death. Sasuke was reminded of the old gods, like those that presided over the Naka Shrine in the Uchiha compound—ancient and indifferent to humanity.

He’d seen something of the kind when he had faced Zabuza. He couldn’t forget it: it haunted his days and followed him at night into his dreams. The glint of murder in his eyes, seeing his own terrified face reflected in the cleaver as it had arced towards him. More than that, Zabuza’s killing intent had nearly forced him into stillness. In that moment, none of his training had mattered. Sasuke had meant nothing to him. He’d been an obstacle to be removed; not the Last Uchiha, and certainly not of any interest. He could have died without ever avenging his family. He would have, if not for Kakashi. Sasuke’s hands clenched. He had been useless. If he couldn’t even face Zabuza, let alone defeat him, then how could he hope to kill that _man_ —

Sasuke stood up. “I’m going to train,” he said. Then, feeling somewhat contrite at his abruptness, continued, “Thank you for dinner.”

Tsunami smiled gently. He was reminded of his mother, and his chest ached at the thought. They had the same dark hair and eyes, and there was something terriblly kind about her. Sasuke relished her company, even though it was limited to mealtimes. Not that he would ever tell her that.

“Hey! Wait, you bastard,” Naruto said, shoveling food into his mouth as he pushed his chair back from the table. “I’m coming, too!”

Sasuke continued to walk towards the door. “Hn,” he said. Now that his back was turned to the group, Sasuke allowed himself a small smile. He knew Naruto would catch up. That idiot always managed, somehow.

Outside, red bled through the clouds as the sun began to set. Sasuke set off for the surrounding forest, chased by Naruto’s incensed yells. They trained well past dusk and into the night. Naruto fell asleep up a tree after exhausting himself training, right where the succession of slashes in the trunk ended. He looked so peaceful that Sasuke almost left him there. But this was not Konoha, and he wasn’t foolish enough to leave Naruto to fend for himself in a country rife with enemy shinobi, so he chakra-walked up to where he lay sleeping and punched him in the shoulder.

“Get up.”

“Oi, just let me stay.”

“Get up, you idiot.”

“ _Eh_ … I’m going to sleep here.”

Sasuke paused, thinking. “How pathetic. I knew you couldn’t beat me back to Tsunami-san’s.” His comment roused the other boy immediately. Naruto was too predictable.

“What? No way, dattebayo!” Naruto shouted, leaping off the branch and into the undergrowth below. “I’ll definitely beat you!” He sprinted through woods, soon becoming just another shadow. Sasuke sighed and followed after.

He passed Naruto with ease, much to the other boy’s dismay, and it was not long before Sasuke reached Sector C of the city proper. Wave was divided into ten districts that each had alphabetical designations, delineated by drainage channels and a complex map of intersecting streets and alleys. Most of the housing was restricted to overcrowded tenements due to overpopulation, and even then it wasn’t enough; he’d seen the slums spilling into the coastline, made of little more than repurposed industrial material and refuse.

The city was even more eerie at night. The smell of wet garbage clung to the buildings, and distantly he could hear the skitter-skitch of rats. Each shop was boarded up, and they looked forbidding in the dim moonlight. There was that feeling of wrongness, again. Sasuke had been brought up to venerate the old gods, and to trust when they spoke to him. He’d felt it that night, too, as he’d walked through the compound. It had been silent then, so silent—the houses hollowed-out husks, with long shadows that stretched across the ground like grasping hands.

The horizon had been on fire.

Sasuke hadn’t known then what that man was capable of. Even as he’d found his parents gutted and near-dead, their blood splashed across the walls of their home—Itachi standing over them dead-eyed and blank—Sasuke been unable to feel anything beyond the initial shock. He didn’t understand then, and he still didn’t, but it was of little consequence. Itachi would die, and it would be by Sasuke’s hand. He would look into his brother’s eyes as he speared him on a sword like he had their kinsmen, and watch as the life bled out of him. That was the promise he had made to the Uchiha and their gods. He would avenge their deaths and restore honor to the clan. His family had once been his life, but now all he had were those empty rooms.

There was no future for him beyond this.

He and Naruto soon reached Sector A and quietly slipped into the back room of Tazuna’s house, curling up on their respective bed rolls. Sasuke fell into a restless sleep, and woke to the now-familiar sounds of Tsunami making breakfast. All that he could remember of his dreams was the taste of blood in his mouth. He dressed quickly, taking care to pack more weapons than usual since he would be guarding Tazuna. His shuriken gleamed in the morning light, distorting his reflection. Sasuke slipped them into his pouch, and ignored the increased pace of his heart.

He ate in silence with his hosts and teammates. Sakura made sure to sit next to him, while Kakashi managed to at once read his “book” and eat one-handed—never once taking off his mask. Naruto hadn’t risen yet.

“You ready, brat?” Tazuna asked. “We’re finishing the railing today.”

Sasuke nodded. He was looking forward to completing an actual task. Training was useful, but knowing how to guard clients was something that could only be learned while in the field.

“Quiet—I like that. Not like the stupid one or the girl.”

Sasuke’s brow twitched in irritation at that, but said nothing.

“Maa, Tazuna-san,” Kakashi drawled, peering out from behind his book. He smiled enigmatically from behind the mask. “These ‘brats’ are the only thing standing between you and your head on a stick. Remember that, ne?”

Tazuna stiffened. “Let’s go, we have a lot to get done.”

“Of course ~ ” Kakashi said.

They left Naruto to finish recuperating and headed towards the bridge. It was almost complete: the base structurally sound, if uninspired, and the material sturdy. Just the railing remained. Although Sasuke doubted that one bridge would suddenly render Wave’s economy solvent and curb the poverty of its residents, he wasn’t heartless. It was better than nothing. The workers began installing the side-rails under Tazuna’s strict instructions. Kakashi still had his nose buried in that trash he called “literature,” but Sasuke had learned enough about his teacher not to underestimate him. It was an act, or at least most of it. The affected drawl and laidback demeanor were a deliberate choice on Kakashi’s part. There was something dark beneath that mask, something broken. Sasuke thought he might be liable to cut himself if he dared investigate further.

Sakura had positioned herself nearer to him, and chattered mindlessly. He ignored her for the most part, but made the occasional noise of assent for her benefit. He didn’t mind indulging Sakura’s infatuation with him if it meant he could manipulate her into serving the team in a better capacity. After the shock of her competency in chakra-walking, he’d reconsidered his estimation of her as a kunoichi—she wasn’t useless, at least not entirely. It would be advantageous to exploit her interest, though it required him to put up with some of her less fortunate qualities. Like being somehow more irritating than Naruto. Sasuke groaned and let her continue to talk.

The rest of the morning passed in the same manner. But then the fog rolled in, and with it came that same dread from before. It was as though the air was laden with it. Sasuke started at once, forcing his fear back like bile.

“Sakura, protect the client,” he hissed, drawing a kunai. Sasuke shifted his stance into a defensive posture, recalling how the pair had surprised them the last time.

“Trash,” Kakashi announced, shutting his book, “are you ready to die now?”

Zabuza laughed. “You talk a lot of shit for someone who barely survived our last fight.”

“Hm. I could say the same about you.”

There was the sound of footsteps, nearly inaudible, and then a sword arced through the mist—Kubikiribōchō, the Executioner’s Blade. Kakashi dodged it and withdrew his own blade, a tantō that left streaks of white chakra in the wake of each strike. But Zabuza was not alone. There was another presence, too, one who identified himself with a hail of senbon directed towards Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna. He leapt forward and deflected them, and then retaliated with a slew of well-aimed shuriken. These were as effective as the other’s initial attack had been. The accomplice stepped forward into the light; as suspected, it was the Kiri hunter-nin from before.

“If you fight me, you will not survive. Leave now, and you will live. Choose carefully.”

Sasuke didn’t move. “I stand with my team.”

“How… noble,” he said. “But you will die.”

They leaped towards each other and exchanged another torrent of senbon and shuriken, but the other nin’s speed was difficult to keep up with. If Sasuke intended to win, he would have to end this quickly before he tired out. That was easier said than done. He just didn’t know what to do. It was clear he was outmatched from the beginning. The stab of self-loathing at his own weakness burned. Sasuke began making hand signs for—

“I’M HERE, DATTEBAYO!” Naruto shouted as he joined the fight, positioning himself next to Sasuke. “Looks like it’s just in time, you bastard.”

Sasuke didn’t bother responding, but felt his lip curl into a grim smile. At once, he was both relieved and furious with Naruto’s intrusion. He wanted to test himself against the other shinobi, but feared what losing meant. The pace of the battle increased after that, and soon the nin’s kekkei genkai was revealed; ice, which rose up around them to form a sphere of mirrors. They were trapped.

Instead of being hindered by the expenditure of chakra, their enemy seemed to only get faster, quicker, and soon Sasuke could not see him at all. He was already tired, but grit his teeth and pushed himself harder. His eyes burned, and clarity returned to him; he could see now, how the nin was moving between the mirrors. He moved to tell Naruto, and when he did, the other boy stumbled, once. It took only that moment of distraction. He wasn’t going to dodge the senbon. He was going to die if Sasuke didn’t do something.

His body moved, impulsively, and he felt the impact of the needles before he even registered what he’d done. Maybe it was because they had the same eyes, a gaze that knew loneliness intimately—or maybe it was because Sasuke was stupid. He fell to his knees. His throat felt strange, like it was closing in on itself, and he couldn’t keep his eyes open. Naruto was screaming, howling, and all around them was red. But then the noise receded, and then the pain. He asked the gods for forgiveness. _Mother, father… I’ve failed you. I’m s—_

Sasuke died.

II

There was pressure on his throat. But then it lifted, quite abruptly, and Sasuke was thrust into consciousness. He gasped and jerked upright, fumbling blindly. His eyes burned. There was something cold and fleshy beneath him, and when he moved it squelched.

“—one of the Konoha shinobi. Their weapons get the best price on the market.”

“It’s the quality—”

“Wait. He’s awake! _Move_ , Tōru.”

There was sensation of someone approaching him. He reacted without thought. Sasuke lunged for him and they fell to the ground grappling. Someone kicked him in the back but he twisted and grabbed hold of their leg, throwing his weight forward to snap it. A scream. Then a line of retaliatory pain down the side of his face. Sasuke’s eyes were still unfocussed, bleary, but knew where to find his kunai by touch. He grabbed one and shoved it up under the man’s chin, through the softest part of the jaw. Blood sprayed across his face, and Sasuke spit it out as he rolled off the body. He rose to his feet, and moved to draw another kunai—but found that he was out, and had no shuriken either. Sasuke shifted into one of the basic stances of the Uchiha style.

If he failed here, he would die. For real, this time.

The other attacker darted towards him, a short-bladed sword in hand. Sasuke avoided the first strike but not the second, and couldn’t pull back in time before the blade hooked into the side of his mouth. He felt the skin begin to separate, and slammed the palm of his hand into the man’s nose. Bone snapped it broke, and he collapsed. The shards had shot up into his brain and killed him. Sasuke stumbled away from the body and wiped at his face, chest heaving. His hands trembled. The reality of what had just occurred began to set in.

Sasuke doubled over and retched, and it burned as some spilled from his wound. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he blinked them away. He’d… killed someone. It felt terrible, more terrible than he’d ever imagined. His gorge rose again, but Sasuke needed to remain calm. He needed to find his team. The purpose grounded him, and returned to him some measure of clarity. He tore a strip of cloth off one of his sleeves and crammed it into his mouth to stem the bleeding. The skin on that side hung open. He had a small med kit strapped to his belt, and withdrew some antiseptic and a pack of butterfly bandages to sanitize and close the wound. It would need serious attention later, but this would have to suffice for now.

He approached the bodies. Low-level bandits turned scavengers. They had been rolling the dead for weapons and valuables. He then realized he’d been piled atop a cart full of corpses, bloodied and barely-dressed. Their missing items had been haphazardly bundled in a length of cloth. He opened it to see what they had found. For the most part it was a sundry collection of ryo, weapons, jewelry, and household objects. But there was one more token, something unexpected: Kubikiribōchō. Sasuke adjusted his stance and held it up. It was beautiful, terrible, and his reflection in the blade alien. He looked unlike himself—splattered in blood, mouth turned down into a gash, and his eyes ablaze with the sharingan. He’d achieved the second tomoe. This revelation was strangely unexciting. There was no one to tell. Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto were probably dead. If he was here, discarded like trash, then there were few alternatives where the others survived.

Despair, then anger, ran through him. _No,_ he thought, cutting himself off. _I just have to find them._ Even if was just the bodies. They deserved that much, at least.

The sword was heavy, and would be unwieldy to use in battle, but he found himself loathe to leave it—for reasons he was unable to articulate. _Perhaps_ … he thought back to their training, and how he’d fixed the concentration of chakra in his feet to walk up the trunk of a tree. If his feet could hold the weight of his entire body, then why not his hands a blade? Was it possible to augment physical strength with chakra? To steadily concentrate it in one area of the body? Something like Princess Tsuande had done. More importantly, did he even have the control for this? He slowly increased the flow of chakra to his hands, feeling tremor there worsen, but this time when he picked up Kubikiribōchō, it was lighter than before.

He refilled his weapon pouches with the rest of the stolen goods, and used one of the dead bandits’ belts to strap the sword to his back. It was time. Sasuke exited the alley and walked onto the street proper, tense and prepared for violence.

Half-crumbled buildings, broken asphalt, and piles of corpses met his gaze. The stench of rot had grown more foul. This was more destruction than Zabuza and his partner were capable of. Something else had happened. There was the lingering residue of acidic chakra in the air, and it scorched his throat with each breath. He tasted ash. In the distance he could see smoke, and hear the screams of civilians as they died. Wave was burning. A massive fox presided over the smoking ruins of the city, with nine tails and eyes like death.

The Kyūbi had returned.


End file.
